Guilt and other feelings
by cora80
Summary: Set during "Founder's day". When Damon thanked her, Bonnie realized that she had made a mistake by not deactivating the device.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters of the Vampire Diaries are not mine, although I wouldn't mind ;-)

Summary: Set during "Founder's day". When Damon thanked her, Bonnie realized that she had made a mistake by not deactivating the device. Elena and Bonnie are still best friends in this story.

Author's note: English is not my native language, please bear with me ;-)

-Guilt and other feelings-

Bonnie was completely taken aback. Had Damon Salvatore really just thanked her? That annoying smirk, that he was usually wearing, had been missing, and he had actually sounded honest. The young witch bit pensively her lower lip and cursed inwardly. Suddenly she felt guilty for betraying Elena, Stefan and Damon by not deactivating the device, that was now in enemies hands. As she couldn't bring herself to run after Damon and tell him the truth, she waited until the parade was over and then frantically searched for Elena. Finally she found her. She had changed into her normal clothes again and was with Stefan. Somehow she seemed tense, and when Bonnie approached her she let out a relieved breath.

"Bonnie there you are. We need to leave, Anna had warned Damon about some vampires that are going to attack."

Bonnie shook her head. "I don't think that we are in danger. There's a trap for all those vampires, I overheard your uncle saying something about it, and the device has something to do with it. Stefan, Anna and Damon need to leave, I didn't remove the spell from the device."

Elena and Stefan looked disbelievingly at her.

"Okay, now is not the time for discussing. Thank you for telling us, but do you really think that you and Elena are not in danger?" Stefan replied.

"I'm pretty sure. At least the device will not have any effect on us. Just go and Elena and me will look for Anna and Damon to warn them."

When Elena also assured him that everything would be fine he finally agreed and left the town heading for the boarding house.

He had just vanished into the woods as Elena spotted Jeremy and Anna. They made a beeline for the young couple and when Jeremy wanted to turn away, Elena grabbed his arm.

"Jeremy, Anna, please listen to me."

"If this is about the vampires, there's no need to talk. Anna already told me and I was about to leave." Jeremy said coldly to his sister.

"But you have to go, too. That device that your mother gave to Damon is actually working and that might be a trap for the vampires." Elena said turning to Anna. The female vampire nodded and dragged Jeremy along.

"Okay, now we have to find Damon." Bonnie murmured.

The two girls walked aimlessly through the crowd that was waiting for the fireworks to start.

"Maybe we should ask Mr Saltzman for help." Elena suggested when she saw him. He was currently standing alone as Jenna was talking to some of her colleagues a few feet away. Bonnie agreed and they went over to him.

They quickly explained the situation to him and after a short moment of hesitation he agreed to help them to look for the older Salvatore brother.

He was just about to reply something when the fireworks started and suddenly he noticed a couple of people collapsing. Elena and Bonnie had noticed that as well and looked quizzically at each other.

"They must be vampires and the device is already activated. Look, the deputies are dragging them out of the crowd."Alaric stated.

"We really need to find Damon." Elena replied anxiously.

They carefully followed one of the policemen to an abandoned building, where they firstly hid behind a corner and watched all the vampires being dragged in.

"Has anyone seen Damon?" Elena asked.

Bonnie and Alaric both answered in the negative, so they decided to go in there as the last of the deputies had stepped out again.

They had just entered the building when they discovered Damon lying on the floor with John Gilbert standing right next to him. Damon's face was a mask of pain, there was a lot of blood and it looked like he wasn't able to move properly.

"Oh God, what have you done to him?" Elena gasped.

"Nothing that a vampire like him doesn't deserve." John answered coldly. "And now he is going to join the other vampires in in cellar and they are all going to burn. The fire has already been ignited and I advise you to better leave the building."

"We will leave, but not without Damon." Elena snapped at him and went over to Damon.

Bonnie followed her and took a closer look at the injured vampire. His eyes were closed, he was really pale and his front was completely covered in blood.

Meanwhile Alaric had pulled his gun that contained vervain-filled darts out of his jacket and aimed it at John. Surely the vervain wouldn't do any damage, but the darts would still hurt.

"If you still have some brains, you're going to leave right now." he said flatly.

John contemplated his possibilities for a moment. His only weapon was a syringe full of vervain. The gun that he was wearing was no use since he had shot Damon with all the wooden bullets that he had carried with him.

"Fine. But don't you dare and think that it's already over."

When Alaric was sure that John had left he went over to the girls. Bonnie and Elena frantically tried to wake Damon, but he wasn't showing any kind of reaction.

"John probably injected him a lot of vervain." the teacher suggested.

" And he shot him." Elena added while she was carefully unbuttoning Damon's shirt.

"These must be wooden bullets, we have to get them out." Bonnie stated.

Alaric nodded. "Yeah, but not here and not now. We have to get moving, there's already smoke coming out of the cellar. Let's bring him to the boarding house."

With that he put his arms under Damon's knees and shoulders and carried him out of the building.

"My car is right over there. Grab my keys, they are in the left pocket of my jacket." he said to Elena who was walking right next to him.

She did as asked and walked ahead to open up the doors. Alaric carefully put Damon in the backseat and headed for the driver's seat.

"Let me ride with him in the backseat, I'm going to try a spell that can ease the pain." Bonnie said. Elena looked at her surprised but obliged and moved over to the passenger's seat, whereas Bonnie climbed into the backseat. Since Damon was in a lying position there wasn't much space left for her. She awkwardly took his head in her lap and started chanting closing her eyes in the process in order to concentrate on the spell. Elena turned around and watched her friend in awe. After the young witch had stopped chanting, Elena immediately noticed the changes in Damon's facial expression. He looked less tortured and more relaxed.

"I think it worked." she said relieved.

After what seemed like eternity they finally reached the boarding house. Due to the whole commotion they had totally forgot to call Stefan on his phone and he was already waiting impatiently. As soon as he heard the car arrive, he ran outside. He was relieved when he saw Elena, Bonnie and Alaric climbing out of the car, but that feeling quickly subsided when the smell of blood hit him. Vampire blood. His suspicion was confirmed when Alaric pulled Damon's unconscious body out of the car.

"Wait, let me take him." Stefan demanded and approached the history teacher.

Alaric handed Damon carefully over to Stefan who looked concerned at his older brother. On their way into the house and upstairs to Damon's room they quickly told Stefan what had happened. After Stefan had put him on his bed, he stirred slightly and moaned in pain. The effect of Bonnie's spell apparently started to wear off. With his vampire speed Stefan left the room but was back in an instant holding a small knife in his hand.

"We have to get the bullets out, I think you two should better wait outside." he said to Elena and Bonnie.

The girls nodded and stepped outside the door.

In the hallway Bonnie and Elena tried to comfort each other, as they were both still shaken from the earlier events. It didn't take long until the door to Damon's room opened and Stefan faced them.

"Is he going to be okay?" Elena asked.

"Yes of course, Damon is strong. I bet tomorrow he will make all of us cranky again." Stefan replied smiling when they entered the room.

Alaric just came out of the adjoined bathroom where he had successfully tried to get rid of Damon's blood on his hands. Bonnie glanced at the vampire who was still unconscious. He was lying on his back with his upper part of the body bandaged and a thin blanket covering his legs up to his waist. Alaric and Stefan had removed his clothes leaving him only in his boxers so that they could locate all the bullet wounds and tend them properly.

„Okay. I think that's all we can do at the moment. We should just let him rest, he's going to be fine." Stefan said.

Elena, Alaric and Stefan turned to leave Damon's room, Bonnie however remained standing next to his bed. Elena looked at her friend and immediately noticed the guilty expression on her face.

"Bonnie, that wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. I didn't deactivate that device and I was too selfish and too occupied with hating Damon, that I didn't realize that he actually tried to help. You're right Elena, he has already changed, but I didn't see it. And I betrayed all of you, I'm not better than him, maybe even worse." Bonnie declared sadly.

"Don't do this. After the whole ordeal of trying to bring Katherine back you had every reason to feel this way. And I'm sure even Damon knows that." Stefan assured her. "Come on, I'll show you the guest room, we should try to get some sleep." he added.

"Okay, I'll stop blaming myself, but I would like to stay here. Just in case he wakes up and needs anything."

Stefan nodded and pushed the big armchair that was standing by the window over to Damon's bed.

"Thank you." Bonnie whispered when he also handed her a blanket.

"Call us if you need anything." Elena said.

After Elena, Stefan and Alaric had left the room, the teacher said goodbye to them. He had Jenna already told on the phone that the girls would stay at the boarding house and since Bonnie was supposed to stay at Elena's there was no need to call her Dad. At first Jenna had been a bit worried about the story of Damon being really sick and suggested to better get him to the hospital. But eventually Alaric could assure her that everything would be fine and he would stop by her house on his way home.

When the front door closed Elena fell exhausted into Stefan's arms. He kissed her lightly on the lips and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"You have no idea how much I hope that John is not my biological father." Elena sighed.

Stefan rested his chin on top of her head and slowly stroked her back.

"Don't worry about that now. Let's go to bed."

In the meantime Bonnie had settled into the armchair and covered herself with the soft blanket. Glancing over at Damon's sleeping form she noticed how young and innocent he looked lying there with his eyes closed and a peaceful expression on his face. Right now it was hard to believe that he used to be cocky and annoying. She felt the sudden need to take his hand or to caress his cheek to give him some comfort, but she didn't dare to touch him. The fear that he could wake up and mock her about not being able to resist him and his sexy appearing was stopping her. But not for long. Eventually she reached out and tentatively grasped Damon's right hand. She squeezed it slightly before she let go again.

"I'm sorry, Damon." she whispered tiredly and finally dozed off.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes: Thank you so much for your great reviews! I'm still new to this and knowing that there are people out there who actually like what I write is really encouraging. In other words keep those reviews coming ;-) And enjoy the second chapter!

* * *

Bonnie woke up with a start when she heard a loud thud. Opening her eyes she noticed that it was still dark outside, only the moon was spending some light. And she also noticed that Damon's bed was empty. She turned around and saw him by the door lying on the floor.

"What do you think you're doing." she muttered and hurried over to him.

When she helped him sitting up he looked at her confused.

"I could ask you the same." he stated weakly.

The mere fact of being weak already sucked but someone witnessing it made it even worse.

But nevertheless he let her help him to get back to his bed.

"What the hell happened, the last thing I remember is following John Gilbert and then my head kind of exploded. And he said something about a fire. I guess I actually should be a pile of ashes by now."

"We got you out in time, but not before he injected vervain into you and shot you with wooden bullets." Bonnie explained.

Damon looked down at his bandaged chest. "But how could this happen in the first place?" he wondered.

Bonnie looked bashfully at the floor. "I didn't remove the spell from the device."

"The way you're saying this make it sound like you did it on purpose."

"I didn't trust you and I wanted to protect the town from all the vampires including you." she tried to explain.

"And you wanted me so badly to get killed that you even lied to your best friend?"

"Damon, you killed my Grandmother, I have every single reason to hate you." she said angrily.

"Not this again." Damon groaned and rolled his eyes. "For the last time, I didn't kill her and I'm really sick and tired of these stupid accusations. I'm sorry it went that far, but how was I supposed to know that casting that spell would have such an effect on her? You are the witch. And by the way you already betrayed me back then by intending to leave me in the tomb. I would say you're not better than me."

"Listen I know that lying to Elena, Stefan and you about the device was wrong, I realized that when you thanked me during the parade. But the situation at the tomb was different. Back then you were different, you were killing people, whereas yesterday you tried to protect them."

"Don't say that. I don't do good, I don't have it in me."

"Yes, you do. You have changed." she disagreed.

"So you decided that I was actually worth saving and therefore I'm still alive…undead, whatever."

Bonnie nodded silently.

"Thank you." he whispered.

After an awkward moment of silence he started another attempt of getting up, but Bonnie immediately hold him back.

"Damon, be reasonable, you still need to rest."

"No, I need blood. I have a couple of bloodbags in a refrigerator in the cellar, so I need to go downstairs."

"Tell me where to find it and I'll get them for you."

Following Damon's description she found it easily and took two bags of blood. On her way back upstairs she stopped by the kitchen and emptied the content of one of the bags into a glass. As she entered Damon's room he was sitting in the armchair and was now wearing a pair of sweatpants.

"Didn't I tell you stay in bed?" she asked sternly but smiling.

"You're just disappointed that I'm wearing those pants now." he teased her.

The young witch rolled her eyes and handed him the glass of blood. He drank it hungrily and placed the empty glass on the nightstand.

"You know you would make a good nurse." he continued to tease her.

"Have you ever seen the movie "Misery"?" Bonnie replied giving him a smirk and sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"Yeah, but I was rather thinking of some other kind of movie." he said raising his left eyebrow.

"You are truly impossible." Bonnie laughed and wondered silently why she suddenly felt so comfortable in Damon's presence.

"And tired." she added when the vampire yawned.

"Must still be the vervain." Damon mumbled and leaned back into the chair with his eyes already half closed.

Bonnie got up and dragged Damon back into his bed, and as soon as his head hit the pillows he was fast asleep. After she had covered his body with the blanket she carefully crawled over to the other side of the bed. She didn't want to sleep in that armchair again but had no clue where the guestroom was. So it was either Damon's bed or the couch in the living room. She was pretty sure that Damon wouldn't mind and the bed looked so inviting.

It was almost ten o'clock and the sun was already shining brightly when Elena opened her eyes. She was still in Stefan's arms and moved ever so slightly, but it was enough for Stefan to wake up.

"Let's see how Damon's doing." she suggested and kissed him on his cheek.

"I'm sure he's fine, we should probably be more worried about Bonnie." he replied sarcastically.

"Bonnie is not only a big girl but a witch as well, she can defend herself. And Damon is my friend and I trust him." Elena said sternly and slapped him playfully.

"I must be in an alternate universe where everybody likes Damon?" Stefan chuckled and together with Elena he made his way over to his brother's bedroom.

They were more than just surprised by the sight in front of them. Damon was lying on his back and while she was sleeping Bonnie had scooted over to Damon and was now clinging on his left arm with her head resting on his shoulder. Both of them were fast asleep.

"Okay, I certainly didn't expect that." Stefan stated flatly.

When Elena had recovered from her astonishment a huge grin appeared on her face.

"Go and get the camera." she said to her boyfriend.

"You want to take photo of them?" Stefan asked.

"They look so cute and they're probably going to deny everything once they're awake. Therefore we need some prove." Elena laughed.

He shook his head disbelievingly but obliged and returned with a camera in his hands just few seconds later. Elena took a couple of pictures, checked the results on the small display and nodded satisfied.

"Aw, look at this one, we should print it out and put it on the refrigerator in the kitchen." Elena said.

"Great, we're about mock a vampire that's stronger than me and a witch." Stefan stated but laughed along with his girlfriend.

Meanwhile Damon had started to wake up and stirred. Bonnie was still snuggled up to him and his movement caused her to wake up as well. She opened her eyes and slightly lifted her head so that she found herself staring into Damon's blue eyes. If the whole situation hadn't been so embarrassing she might have gotten lost in those beautiful eyes.

"I'm sorry, I was so tired and didn't know where to find the guestroom." Bonnie apologized and backed off.

"No it's okay. I mean that's what friends are for, right?" he asked hesitantly.

"Is that what we are now? Friends?" Bonnie asked back.

"Well, certainly we aren't enemies anymore." Damon declared.

"Maybe for now we could leave it at that." he added.

Bonnie smiled and agreed to not being enemies anymore.

"Let's get up before Elena and Stefan burst in to check on you, that would be awkward." she suggested eventually.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: Thanks again for your reviews and to those who added this story to their favorite's and/ or story alert subscription. That makes me extremely happy!

Happy reading, I hope you still like it :-)

* * *

„Hey, you're finally awake." Elena greeted Bonnie as she found her way into the kitchen.

The witch just smiled at her friends.

"So you stayed the whole night with Damon?" Stefan asked.

Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, my neck is still a little bit stiff from sleeping in that chair."

Elena tried hard not to laugh out loud and concentrated on her cereal in front of her. She was cheering inwardly when Bonnie asked for some orange juice.

"It's in the fridge, just help yourself. " Stefan replied.

Bonnie walked over to the fridge and could feel her friends gazing at her. Confused she grabbed the handle of the fridge door. And then she saw it and froze. She wanted to be mad at Elena and Stefan but the embarrassment was too intensive to allow any other feelings. Staring at the picture she couldn't help herself but smile a little bit. Though she made sure that the smile had dissappeared before she turned around to face Elena and Stefan who were looking at her expectantly.

Bonnie cleared her throat. "I guess denying is not an option."

Elena shook her head. "Nope."

Bonnie groaned and wished she could just come up with some sort of a "vanishing-spell". But since that wasn't an option either, she leaned back against the kitchen counter and collected her thoughts. Luckily she gained some time as Damon also appeared in the kitchen.

"Hey Damon, are you feeling better now? Did you have a good night's sleep?" Stefan asked his brother.

"Yeah, I feel just peachy." he answered and made his way over to the coffee maker. Although there was no real need it had become some kind of a habit for him to drink coffee in the morning. He simply liked it. But what he didn't like was the fact that Elena and Stefan were staring at him. And on top of that they seemed to be very amused.

„What?" Damon asked quizzically.

Bonnie pointed silently at the fridge. When Damon finally spotted the picture he smirked.

„What's the big deal? That's how you look like when you're exhausted and fell asleep after having hot and steamy sex." he stated and winked at Bonnie.

„Damon!" Bonnie shouted incredulously. Apparently he was back at being cocky again at least in front of Elena and Stefan. But she didn't mind him joking around like that as he had shown her his other side. And wasn't it just human and somewhat normal for a guy to show off in the presence of his friends but to be all caring and nice while being alone with a girl?

He grinned at her and took a sip of his coffee. "Ah, hot and black, just how I like it."

Bonnie sighed. "I guess I liked you more when you were still out cold!"

„Yeah, because back then I was lying nearly naked in my bed. And don't be mad at Elena and Stefan, they're just jealous, cause they have no clue what I'm talking about when I mention hot sex." he said to Bonnie who was rolling her eyes but smiling.

Elena groaned. "God, I should have known that this would somehow backfire on us."

"I think you still owe us an apology for barging in without knocking." Damon said casually.

"But we were just worried and wanted to check on you." Elena answered innocently.

"Oh, now I get it. And just in case I wouldn't recover you wanted to take one last picture of me to remember me and my gorgeous appearance."

Elena shook her head.

"Anyway, I want to copies." he added.

"Two?" Elena, Bonnie and Stefan asked simultaneously.

"Sure. One for my desk and one for my wallet." he smirked and left the kitchen taking the cup of coffee with him.

"Okay Bonnie Bennett, now explain yourself." Elena demanded.

Bonnie sighed but eventually started to tell her friend the "not-being-enemies-anymore-story".

Stefan felt that his presence in the kitchen was no longer needed and sauntered into the living room. He was caught off guard when Damon approached him and thanked him for saving him, but he tried not to show it and briefly patted Damon's shoulder.

Around noon Alaric Saltzman had called and was relieved to hear that everything was fine, and it was already early afternoon when Bonnie and Elena left the boarding house. Elena was slightly reluctant to go home as she didn't want to face John. But Jenna wanted her to come home on Sunday so she packed her bag and let Stefan drive her home since her car was still in town. On their way to the Gilbert house they dropped Bonnie off and when Stefan eventually pulled up in front of her house Elena breathed deeply.

"You can call me at any time and come back to the boarding house." Stefan said.

"I know. Thank you."

She kissed him goodbye, retrieved her bag from the backseat and approached the house. Jenna's car wasn't there meaning that she was probably out with Alaric.

"Great." she mumbled.

Taking another deep breath Elena finally entered the house. The coat rack held only John's jacket and Elena assumed that Jeremy was out too, probably with Anna. Not like he would have talked to her either. Before she went upstairs to her room she made her way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

The severed fingers that were lying innocently in a pool of blood on the kitchen counter were the first thing that caught her eye. Walking around the counter she stopped dead in her tracks. Right in front of her lay the rest of John's bloody body. But it wasn't just his hand that was bleeding. His entire front was covered in blood and one of the kitchen knives was lying beside him.

"Okay Elena, you have to be a big girl now." she tried to encourage herself and walked over to him. Slowly she crouched down and reached out to touch his neck in order to look for a pulse that she didn't find.

John Gilbert was dead.

She jumped when she heard the front door open and turned around. A moment later Jenna entered the kitchen and looked absolutely terrified when she noticed the whole blood and John lying motionless on the floor.

"He is dead." Elena said trembling.

"Oh my God. Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don't know, I just came home."

"What do you mean? You came back two hours ago and wanted to take a bath and a nap."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's notes: I just can't start without thanking you for those reviews :-) Please let me know in case I make too many mistakes, as I said English is not my native language, but I'm trying ;-)

This chapter holds not that much fun and less Bonnie but it was time to carry on with the story...hope you like it. Happy reading!

* * *

Elena's eyes widened in shock as she realized who had caused the bloodbath.

„I mean I just came down. God, I'm so scared and confused." she stammered.

Jenna took her hand and dragged Elena out of the kitchen. In the living room she frantically looked around. Finally she found the phone and called Sheriff Forbes.

"Do you think we're safe here?" she asked her niece after hanging up the phone. "Maybe we should leave."

Elena couldn't think straight. Were they safe? Was Katherine still around?

"I need to call Stefan." she stammered.

"Please, not right now, Elena. Sheriff Forbes will be here soon. We have to deal with the deputies and I guess a coroner is coming, too. Do you think I should call Jeremy? Maybe we should go to the neighbors."

Jenna was a total mess and couldn't make up her mind. Luckily at this very moment the car of the sheriff pulled up. Sheriff Forbes instructed Jenna and Elena to wait in the living room and sent her deputies into the kitchen to secure the crime scene. After the two women had testified they were allowed to go and wait outside. Both of them felt the urge to leave the house and get some fresh air. Once they were standing on the porch Jenna pulled her niece into a tight embrace.

"God Elena, I'm so glad that you're okay."

They were still embracing each other when the coroner stepped out and John's corpse was finally hauled away.

Jenna turned away. "I've never liked him but this is awful."

"I really need to talk to Stefan now." Elena said.

Jenna nodded. "It's okay, I also want to call Alaric. I would feel a lot safer if he could stay with us tonight. If you don't mind."

Elena didn't mind at all although she knew that her teacher would be no match for Katherine.

She went back into the house and climbed up the stairs. In her room she fell on her bed. She was completely worn out and needed a minute to gather herself. So much had happened. Eventually she pulled out her cell phone and called Stefan.

"Hey Elena, what's up?" he greeted her.

Hearing his voice she couldn't brace herself any longer and started to cry.

"What's wrong? Did John do anything?"

"Stefan, he's dead. Katherine is back and killed him." she sobbed.

"Oh my God, are you sure? How do you know? Are you okay?"

"I'm frightened but other than that I'm fine."

"I'll come over. Have you already called the police?"

"Jenna did. But the deputies have already left so we can talk in privacy. And bring Damon with you, it concerns him as well." Elena said almost calm now.

Even before Stefan and Damon arrived, Alaric showed up with Jeremy in tow. He had met him in town when he was already on his way to the Gilbert's. Elena could hear Jenna, Alaric and Jeremy talking but decided to wait in her room for the Salvatore brothers. She jumped when she heard a tap on her window. It was Damon.

She hurried over and opened it.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked surprised.

"Your aunt thinks that I'm sick, doesn't she?" he asked back.

She was about to reply something when the doorbell sounded.

"It's Stefan." Damon stated.

When the three of them finally sat together in Elena's room she told them what had happened. The return of Katherine itself had already shocked the two vampire brothers but knowing that she had also been invited into Elena's house was even worse.

"You can't stay here, you should come with us." Stefan suggested.

"Katherine can enter the boarding house as well, she won't be safer there." Damon disagreed.

"We're going to watch over your house for the next hours and in the meantime we need Bonnie to find a spell to revoke the invitation." the older Salvatore continued.

"Do you think she's still here?" Elena asked hesitantly.

"I doubt that killing John was her only intention. So yes, I'm afraid she's still somewhere in Mystic Falls." Stefan answered.

"Don't worry, if that bitch is still around, we're going to find her and kill her." Damon said through gritted teeth.

Elena nodded. She felt better now.

"Jeremy is coming up. I'll take the first watch." Damon said and in the next second he had already disappeared.

Elena looked pensively at the still fluttering curtains.

"I'm sorry, that you're life has become so complicated since you've met me." Stefan said sadly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Stefan. With living in a town like Mystic Falls and a best friend that happens to be a witch I doubt that my life would have turned out different. I love you and I'm glad that you're here."

The two of them were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Jeremy who looked sympathetically at his sister.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a low voice.

"I'm fine, thanks Jer." Elena replied surprised but glad that her brother was talking to her again.

Luckily Jenna didn't mind that Stefan would stay for the night as Alaric was also staying over. The two men had made it their business to clean the kitchen. Stefan assured Alaric that the human blood wasn't bothering him and also used the opportunity to tell the teacher about Katherine. The part-time vampire hunter was immediately alarmed and offered his help.

Everything was quiet when Damon returned from his patrol around the Gilbert house and the surrounding area. He could see that Elena's room was the only one that was still illuminated. Her window was still open and within seconds he was standing inside of her room.

"Did you find anything?" Stefan wanted to know.

Damon shook his head.

"Bonnie has just called, she hasn't found anything yet and I guess it could take some time, she said she isn't even sure where to start looking." Elena told him.

"Call her back and tell her that I'm coming over, I know some stuff about those spellbooks as well." Damon said.

Bonnie looked up from her books when she spotted Damon at her window. Without further thinking she opened it and invited him in what caught him off guard. But he quickly recovered and climbed through the window. He briefly scanned her room and decided that he liked it. It looked comfortable and most importantly it wasn't too girly.

"Here, pick a book and start looking." Bonnie said curtly and sat down on her fluffy carpet.

"Are you mad at me?" the vampire inquired.

Bonnie looked at him surprised. "No, why do think that I'm mad at you?"

"Because of the things that I said in the kitchen in front of Elena and Stefan this morning."

"Damon, I actually do have a sense of humor. So no, I'm not mad."

"Wow, you not only have a sense of humor but a sense of Damon-humor."

"Never mind." he added when she looked quizzically at him.

"How comes you know so much about witches and spells?" Bonnie asked while they combed through the books and notations that her Grandmother had left behind.

"Let's just say I met a few of them." he smirked.

"Yeah, I can imagine what that means." Bonnie said dryly and continued leafing through the book in front of her.

Damon chuckled and also went back to work but not without watching her for a moment out of the corner of his eye.

After nearly an hour of searching they finally managed to find the appropriate spell. Since none of Katherine's personal belongings were available Bonnie wouldn't be able to cast a spell that would only revoke this particular invitation. The one that she could perform would revoke the invitation of every vampire that had ever entered the Gilbert house, so that Stefan and Damon had to be invited anew. Bonnie called Elena and Stefan to inform them but they decided to do the magic the following day when Jenna was at work. After Bonnie had hung up the phone she looked expectantly at Damon.

"And what happens next? I mean Elena can't hide inside the house for the rest of her life."

"If Katherine's really still around we need to find her and try to figure out what she's planning. Either way we should kill her. Elena might be her main focus of attention but she's certainly not the only one in danger. After all we're talking about Katherine."

"Do you still love her?"

As Damon didn't answer she quickly added "Sorry, you don't have to answer, it's not my business anyway."

Damon was still wrestling with his good side, and one part of him wanted to yell at Bonnie for asking that question, but he was amazed at how small this part was. Somehow the little witch had managed to let his good side outweigh all the hate and disdain that he carried with him. But what surprised him even more was the fact that he had already started to get accustomed to this new Damon. Bonnie on the other hand gave him the impression of being happier again. Ever since her Grandmother had died she had emanated a constant sadness and bitterness. Though he couldn't sense those feelings anymore since the last night that she had spent looking after him. Before they had opened the tomb he had loved Katherine and this love and the intention to get her back have been the only purpose of his existence. After the revelation of her betray he had lost this only purpose and felt empty and in need of a new goal. Could it be that it was already sitting right in front of him?

"No, I don't love her anymore. And I'm ready to kill her if she intends to threaten anyone that I care about." he finally answered.

Bonnie wasn't sure what to say and was relieved when Damon stood up and started to collect the books from the floor. Apparently he didn't expect a reply.

After they had neatly placed all the books back on their shelf Bonnie went over the window and opened it

"What, are you kicking me out?" he asked with feigned hurt.

"I guess my Dad wouldn't be that happy to find a strange guy in my bed tomorrow morning."

"Hey, I didn't say anything about sleeping in your bed, but if I had known about that naughty thoughts of yours I would have put on my good underwear. Or maybe no underwear at all." he joked.

Bonnie slapped playfully his arm. She was glad that Damon could make her laugh in situations like this.

"I could pick you up tomorrow." he suggested while he climbed gracefully out of the window.

"Agreed. But only if we drive with the top down." Bonnie said smiling.

"Your wish is my command."


	5. Chapter 5

Author's notes: As always thanks for the reviews and happy reading!

* * *

The rest of the night had been uneventful. Stefan and Damon didn't find anything suspicious during their patrols and the girls were finally able to get some sleep.

Bonnie smiled when Damon pulled up in front of her house. The top was down as he had promised the night before. Luckily her Dad had already left and Elena had just texted that Jenna and Alaric were also off to work. Elena and Jeremy were allowed to stay at home and Stefan and Bonnie had simply decided to skip school.

"So are you ready to do some magic?" Damon greeted her. Being the perfect gentlemen he stood by the already opened passenger's door.

"Yeah, but I wish it wasn't necessary." Bonnie answered and climbed into the car.

"I can't believe how much my life has changed over the last couple of months. You know, once I was an ordinary girl that spent the evenings together with her friends either at the movie theater or at the Grill. And now my life is full of magic and vampires, no offense."

"None taken. But try to see the good points of your new life. You don't have to go the movie theater anymore, because you can play Buffy and Sabrina in real life. And imagine there wouldn't be any vampires in your life, there would be no me. And therefore no fun either."

He had done it again. He had made her smile.

"Now that you mention it. I would probably feel a constant emptiness but not really knowing what was missing." Bonnie replied.

Damon chuckled and turned right at the next cross-way.

"Are we taking a shortcut?" Bonnie asked surprised knowing that they were actually taking the wrong road.

"Sort of."

He finally pulled over and stopped the car. They were not really far out of town, but the only things that Bonnie could see were cornfields and meadows.

"But Katherine's still out there, what are we doing here?" she asked confused.

"Right now I can't sense any other vampires and Stefan is still with Elena to protect her. Besides he thinks that we will stop by the boarding house to get some vervain that I already have with me. And since you haven't had any breakfast it's the perfect moment for a short time-out for half an hour to focus on something else and to have breakfast." Damon announced.

"How do you know that I had no breakfast?"

"I can hear your stomach growling, it's practically screaming at me to give you something to eat."

"Oh." Bonnie blushed slightly.

After opening the door for her, he walked around his car and opened the trunk to reveal a thermos bottle, two mugs and a paper bag with croissants. Bonnie looked amazed at him as he also retrieved a blanket from the trunk and spread it on the meadow.

"Okay where is Damon Salvatore and what have you done to him?"

"I guess the more suitable question is what have you done to him?" the vampire replied.

He held out his hand that she took without any hesitation and led her over to the blanket.

"Lucky you, that I didn't have any breakfast." Bonnie said and sat down.

"Come on, you couldn't have resisted even if you did." Damon said grinning.

He settled down next to her, filled the two mugs with coffee and handed her one of them and a croissant. They were eating and drinking in a comfortable silence.

"What have I done to deserve that?" Bonnie eventually asked.

"Who said that you've already done something? Maybe this is just an act of bribery."

"So there's something you want me do that you think I wouldn't do without being bribed? Now that's interesting." Bonnie laughed.

Damon actually smiled at her and Bonnie noticed a sparkle in his eyes that she had never seen before.

"We should go now." he said with the slightest hint of reluctance in his voice. He had really enjoyed this short time-out together with Bonnie and he would definitely not mind staying there for another thirty minutes. And he would be completely satisfied with just lying on the blanket and looking at the beautiful little witch.

Bonnie nodded and they quickly collected their belongings, put them in the car and headed straight over to Elena's.

Elena and Stefan were sitting in the living room but Jeremy was nowhere to be seen.

"We've told him everything and he went straight to Anna to inform her." Elena explained.

Bonnie had already pulled out her book and reread the spell.

"Damon, Stefan you two should better leave the house. Since your invitations are also going to be revoked, I'm not sure what happens when you're already in the house while I cast the spell." Bonnie explained.

The two vampires nodded and left the house. Outside on the porch Damon sat down on the bench. Stefan glanced at his older brother. Finally he could see the changes that Elena and Bonnie were talking about, too. So there was at least one positive thing that they could gain from all that had happened.

A few minutes later the door was opened by Elena.

"Okay, let's see whether the spell is working or not." Stefan said and walked towards the door.

Everybody was relieved when he wasn't able to step over the threshold. Damon made an attempt on his own but couldn't enter the house either. After Elena had invited them anew they made their way into the kitchen trying to figure out their next move. Stefan and Damon would continue theirs patrols and everybody would keep their eyes peeled for Katherine, but other than that they were pretty clueless about what to do next.

"I guess we don't have to keep looking for her." Damon suddenly said.

The others looked puzzled at him.

"She's here." Damon announced and walked to the front door.

He paused for a moment with his hand already on the doorknob and eventually opened the door.

And there she was standing right in front of him.

"Hello Damon, long time no see." she purred.

"And whose fault is this?" he asked her coldly.

"So you've locked me out. How rude of you." she replied ignoring his question and looking at Elena, Bonnie and Stefan who were standing behind Damon.

"Congratulations Stefan, I see you've moved on and found a suitable replacement for me."

"Leave Elena alone." Stefan spat and stepped forward.

"What makes you think that I'm here for Elena?" Katherine asked disdainfully.

"Granted, she is beautiful. But let's face it, sooner or later she's going to wither away an die. She has no powers at all and is therefore useless to me. It's Ms Bennett that I'm after."

They looked all equally shocked.

"For God's sake, she's a Bennett! You morons have no idea how powerful she's going to be in a couple of years!" Katherine added.

"So you're going to use her as long as you need her and then what?" Damon hissed angrily his eyes already starting to turn red.

"Don't do anything stupid, you know that I'm much older and stronger than you? " she threatened.

Bonnie grabbed his left arm and slightly pulled him back.

"Okay, here is the deal. Bonnie comes with me, we will leave the town and nobody's going to get hurt."

"Where did you get your breakfast, in a mental institution? The answer is no!" Damon yelled and slammed the door.

"I'll give you some time to consider my offer. But don't think too long about it or people are going to die." Katherine called through the closed door.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's notes: I can't believe how many people added this story to their favorites/ alerts! That and your great reviews are the best encouragement I can imagine to keep on writing. Thank you so much!

-vampwolfgreatness, your review made me jump for joy, I feel literally honored :-)

* * *

"So that was Katherine." Elena stated still shaken.

„Yes, the bitch in person." Damon replied and looked worried at Bonnie.

"But if Bonnie is so powerful, we only have to find the right spell to destroy Katherine, right?" Elena asked hopefully.

"Believe me, Katherine will always find a way not to be affected by any of her spells. She has always been around witches and always had them work for her." Damon explained.

"Maybe I should just go with her." Bonnie suddenly whispered.

"Are you insane? I said no!" Damon said horrified by the very thought of it.

"But people are going to die. Innocent people." Bonnie objected.

"You are going to die, if you go with Katherine." Damon couldn't believe that she was really considering that.

"I agree with Damon, this isn't an option." Stefan said and Elena also agreed.

"At least now we know the reason why she's still here." Elena stated.

"But we still have to come up with a plan to trap her. And this isn't going to be easy. " Stefan said.

"That's bullshit, we don't need a clever devised plan. We only have to make sure that we enough vervain and that and you and me should be enough to destroy her." Damon replied annoyed.

"We still should have a plan besides a mere fight, it's Katherine we're talking about." Stefan addressed Damon.

The next hours where spent with discussing various ideas but none of them seemed to be the right one. As Jenna was supposed to be home in about an hour they decided to continue the plotting the very next day and also to go to school again. They were sure that Katherine wouldn't attack anyone of them in public especially since she gave them some time to consider.

"I'd like to go home now." Bonnie eventually said.

"I'll take you ." Damon immediately replied.

Elena stepped up to her best friend and gave her a hug.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I guess I just need a little bit of time to handle those news."

The car ride was spent in silence. Damon walked Bonnie to the door where she paused and turned around.

"Do you mind to stay just for a little while? My Dad is on a business trip and I don't want to be alone right now." Bonnie said on the verge of tears.

"Of course I'll stay."

They had barely entered the house when Bonnie completely broke down. The tears were falling rapidly now. Damon instantly pulled her in a tight embrace and let her cry into his chest. While softly caressing her hair he tried to come up with some soothing words but couldn't find any. He couldn't remember the last time he had a crying girl in his arms that he actually wanted to comfort and not to kill and felt almost helpless. Bonnie had slung her arms around his waist savoring the secure feeling of being in his strong arms. When her sobs finally subsided she slightly pulled away and looked at Damon. The vampire put his hands tentatively on either side of her face and with his thumbs he gently removed the wet trails that her tears had left behind.

"Thank you." she said with her voice still trembling.

"And sorry for that." she added motioning with her head at his soaked shirt.

"It's okay as long as you feel better now."

Bonnie took a deep breath and nodded. Her arms were still wrapped around his waist and she accommodated to the urge to close the distance between them and leaned against his chest. Damon went back to stroking her hair and rested his chin on top of her head.

"I don't like being like that." Bonnie whispered.

"Like what?"

"Fragile and weak. I'm a witch and considering what Katherine said a pretty powerful one. I shouldn't be standing here and crying all over you."

"But you're also human. If you really think this way, you could also say that I'm a vampire, so I shouldn't be standing here comforting you. I'm supposed to eat you." Damon replied.

"You don't have to comfort me."

"But I want to."

He could her heart beating faster after saying that. The old Damon would have mocked her about it but the new one smiled slightly and embraced her even tighter.

It took another couple of minutes until Bonnie had gathered herself and was able to let go.

"Katherine won't get away with this, we're going to figure something out. And until then I'll be there to protect you." Damon declared.

"Not so long ago I would have been more than just happy, if John Gilbert would have managed to kill you. Now I don't know what I would do without you." Bonnie said looking up to him.

Damon gently caressed her cheek and smiled at her.

Once he had been in love with Katherine. In fact he had loved her so badly that he had recklessly done everything that was necessary to bring her back. After learning about her betrayal he was so full of hate that he thought he would never be able to love someone again and he was no longer sure how it felt being in love. When his friendship with Elena had started to grow he had even thought that he loved Elena. But his feelings for Elena were nothing compared to what he felt for Bonnie. He wanted to lean down and kiss her but was afraid that it might be an overhasty move and he would destroy the bond that they had formed. So he left it at stroking softly her cheek and noticed gladly how she leaned into his touch.

The rest of the day was spent with finding some distraction in listening to music, cooking and watching TV. Over the course of the evening Bonnie got less tense and was even able to laugh again. When she started to yawn Damon got up and grabbed his black leather jacket.

"Please don't go. I know that Katherine isn't able to enter the house, but nevertheless I would feel better if you stayed. Also is Stefan staying with Elena and you shouldn't be alone at the boarding house."

"Are you worried about me?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll stay." Damon said and walked over to the couch in the living room and adjusted the pillows.

"Damon, what are you doing? Come on, we've already shared a bed, it's okay."

The vampire looked surprised at her but didn't object.

"I only hope you're wearing your good underwear. " Bonnie joked.

His mischievous grin made her stop.

"You are wearing underwear, aren't you?"

"Yes, I do. Relax." he laughed.

Bonnie went into her bathroom, changed into her shorts and a top and quickly brushed her teeth. When she returned to her bedroom Damon was already in his boxers and she couldn't help but notice his well-toned body. The last time she had seen him like this his entire chest had been bandaged so that she could only guess how he was built. She blushed slightly and hoped that he hadn't caught her staring at him. Damon however was much too distracted by her beauty to notice her glances. She climbed into her bed and Damon carefully tucked her in. Snuggling up against his arm she pecked him on his cheek.

"Good night, Damon." she mumbled.

Damon was too surprised to reply. He looked down at Bonnie who was already fast asleep and found himself smiling again.

The next morning came way too quickly for Bonnie's liking. When she woke up she was still snuggled up to Damon and would rather stay like this than getting up and going to school. She carefully sat up and looked at the vampire who was still sleeping. With his dark hair messed up from sleep he looked even more gorgeous.

"What time is it?" Damon suddenly asked with his eyes still closed.

"Time for school." Bonnie groaned but got up.

Damon turned around, pulled the blanket almost over his head and Bonnie could hear him mumbling something about five more minutes. When she returned from the bathroom he was still in the same position.

"Damon, come on. Five minutes are over." Bonnie laughed and pulled at the cover.

"That was mean." Damon groaned but smiled at her and got up.

Bonnie was in the kitchen eating her cereal when Damon also went downstairs after he had taken a quick shower and dressed. She had already prepared a cup of coffee for him that he gratefully took.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked.

"A little bit tense but other than I'm fine. Thanks for staying."

"You're welcome. So are you ready for school? Homework all done?"

"Yes, let's go."

He wanted to drop her off at school and afterwards grab some breakfast for himself at the boarding house. They had agreed that Stefan would watch her at school and Damon would stay nearby and check the surrounding area.

But they had barely stepped out on the porch when Damon paused. Suddenly he shoved her back into the house and jumped forward. Katherine had already been waiting for them. The two vampires fought violently but with Katherine being so much older and stronger than him Damon didn't stand a chance. Due to their speed Bonnie couldn't see more than a blur, but then she spotted Damon lying on the ground. He cradled his left arm against his chest, his shirt was torn and he was bleeding from various bite wounds. Bonnie gasped when Katherine approached him with a syringe in her hand. He could feel the needle piercing his skin and a burning pain before everything faded into black.

"I'm not blind, I can see that he means a lot to you. So you better accept my offer or he's going to suffer because of your stubbornness." Katherine hissed and disappeared with Damon.

"No!" Bonnie shouted horrified and stepped over the threshold on the porch. "Come back, I'll come with you! Katherine!"

Bonnie stood helplessly on the porch her eyes still fixed on the spot where Damon had been lying. Before she could even realize what was happening she was tackled from behind and hauled away in a speed only a vampire could muster. Shortly after the attack she found herself in a basement with Katherine standing right in front of her.

"Good girl, I knew that you would eventually come to your senses." Katherine said, opened a heavy door and pushed Bonnie inside a penumbral room.

"Don't try anything stupid, your magic won't work here anyway." the female vampire added.

"Where is Damon?" Bonnie asked.

"Don't worry, Damon is going to join you soon."

"Let him go! I'm here and I'll do whatever you want." Bonnie demanded.

"I'm afraid that's not an option. I need you to cast a spell for me and in order for this spell to work a vampire needs to be sacrificed. So it just comes in handy that good old Damon is here." Katherine grinned devilishly and ascended the stairs.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's notes: I finally managed to finish the seventh chapter. Guess I should learn to type faster ;-) As always thank you for your reviews and happy reading!

* * *

Bonnie leaned against the wall and slid down onto the floor silently wishing she would be able to turn back time until the day after Founder's day. The room she was held in only contained a bed but there was also a door leading to another room. Bonnie got up and slowly approached the door. She pushed it carefully open and was surprised to find a toilet and a sink. She had the unpleasant feeling that she would have to hold out for some time. Returning back into the other room she could here someone descending the stairs. Suddenly the door was opened and two men stepped in dragging Damon with them. Bonnie couldn't tell if those men were humans who were compelled by Katherine or vampires as well. But right now her eyes were fixed on Damon anyway. When he was thrown down on the floor, Bonnie immediately crouched down next to him.

"What did you to him?"she asked when Katherine also appeared.

"He's just full of vervain, somehow I have to prevent you from escaping. And the bracelet that he's wearing has needles on the inside that are constantly instilling vervain into him to make sure that he will never regain his full strength." the female vampire explained.

Bonnie looked at her full of hate. "You said you would leave him alone if I follow your orders."

"I'm not exactly renowned for reliability. Ask Damon." Katherine replied nonchalantly.

"No, you're renowned for being the biggest bitch of the world." Damon muttered slowly waking up.

"Oh Damon, you're so pathetic. I'm confident that it is the right choice to sacrifice you."

"And to what exactly am I going to be sacrificed. Are you at least going to tell me that?" Damon asked.

Katherine contemplated the question for a moment but eventually answered. "My maker has recently been staked, and with Bonnie's help I will bring him back. I have someone bringing his remains over and there are still some arrangements to be made, but I guess we should be ready for casting that spell by the day after tomorrow. And until then you two can make yourself comfortable down here."

"It's a pity that I won't be able to meet your maker, I would have kicked his ass for making the mistake of turning you. I can't believe that I actually tried to get you out of that tomb." Damon said sarcastically.

Katherine only smirked, left the room together with her two servants and locked the door behind her.

Damon's attempt to sit up failed and he sunk back onto the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked looking up to Bonnie.

Bonnie took his left hand and squeezed it slightly. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Did you really consent to her plan because you thought she would let me go?"

The witch nodded.

"You shouldn't have done that, you're life is more valuable than mine."

"Don't say that."

The vampire struggled again to sit up but this time he succeeded.

"You shouldn't be here." Damon said persisting in his viewpoint.

"I think I'm in love with you." Bonnie suddenly blurted out.

Damon looked at her with a mixture of shock and surprise.

"I know that it is sort of weird telling you that right now." she added and blushed slightly.

"No, it's the perfect moment." Damon objected.

Bonnie looked quizzically at him.

"At least I know now that I will be able to spent the moment of my death not only with the woman that I love but that loves me, too." Damon explained and slowly leaned forward.

Bonnie nearly forgot to breathe when his soft lips finally touched hers. She closed her eyes and was amazed by the tenderness of his kiss. Running her fingers through his dark hair she let him deepen the kiss and could feel butterflies in her stomach. It was Damon who eventually pulled away.

"We should have done that way sooner." he grinned.

Bonnie smiled sadly at him and threw a glance at the bracelet he was wearing.

"Is there any chance to get this off?" she asked.

He grimaced when he pulled at the solid trinket and shook his head.

"It seems to emit just the adequate amount of vervain that I can still move around but other than that I'm pretty useless."

"You could drink from me." Bonnie hesitantly suggested.

"No." Damon immediately replied.

"Besides that stupid thing emits the vervain permanently, it probably wouldn't work anyway." he added.

"I still think we should give it a try. Even if you regain only part of your strength for a moment, it might be enough to rip the bracelet off. And I trust you, I know that you're not going to drink too much."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't."

"I can't believe that you actually have to convince me to drink human blood."

"Me neither." Bonnie smiled.

Damon gently kissed her on her cheek before he took her left wrist. Bonnie looked into his eyes and nodded encouragingly. Eventually he showed his fangs and pierced her sensitive skin as gentle as he could. While he was drinking he concentrated on her heartbeat as he didn't want to miss the moment when he needed to stop. As soon as he felt only the slightest amount of power return he paused and pulled at the bracelet. Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the clattering sound of the bracelet hitting the floor.

"You are truly amazing." Damon said equally relieved.

"You're not that bad yourself." Bonnie grinned.

"But we're still down here in the basement. Do you think we should just burst through the door when you're strong enough to open it." she added.

"We have no idea where she is or if there are guards in front of the cellar door. I think we should wait for her and ambush her down here. But we need something wooden. The remaining vervain in the bracelet will certainly not suffice to defeat her." Damon replied.

"There's only the bed and it has a metal frame."

"But the lath floor should be wooden. Let's move the mattress." Damon suggested.

Together they lifted the mattress and put it aside. They smiled at each other when they spotted the wooden slats. Damon smashed a few of them and broke them until the pieces were handy and sharp. He worked carefully trying not to hurt himself and when he was done Bonnie coated the sharp endings of the wooden pieces with the vervain from the bracelet and they put the mattress back on the remnants of the frame.

"Can you hear anything?" Bonnie asked nervously.

"I can hear that somebody is upstairs but nobody is talking so I can't tell whether it's Katherine or not."

"The guys that brought you in, are they human?"

"Yes, Katherine compelled them."

"So all we can do now is waiting for her to come back?"

"I know what we could do in the meantime. It's just a pity that the bed is broken." Damon said and grinned mischievously.

Bonnie slapped him playfully.

When the hours went by they took the blankets and tried to get comfortable on the floor. Damon pulled the young witch into his arms and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. All of a sudden he tensed and Bonnie was immediately alarmed.

"I can hear her talking. She's coming closer."

A moment later they could hear the basement door being opened.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's notes: Another chapter is finished! Happy reading!

* * *

As soon as the door opened and Katherine entered the room Damon lunged out trying to catch her off guard. But the female vampire recovered quickly from the sudden attack and fought back. She threw Damon against the wall and went straightly for his neck. Bonnie tried to sneak up on her holding one of the makeshift stakes in her hand. Katherine however was too fast, snatched the wooden piece out of her hands and plunged it swiftly into Damon's right shoulder. Damon cried out in pain and fell onto his knees. Bonnie gasped and looked timidly at Katherine who approached her. "If you weren't so important to me I would kill you right away, you stupid little witch." Katherine hissed.

"But nevertheless you ought to be punished so that you realize your mistake." she added.

Damon watched in horror when Katherine grabbed Bonnie and smashed her into the wall. The young witch immediately collapsed and sunk down onto the floor leaving a trail of blood on the wall.

"No!" Damon screamed and jumped at Katherine once more.

He was still weak because of the vervain but the rage about her attack on Bonnie fueled him. When Katherine buried her sharp teeth again in his neck he pulled the stake out of his shoulder and plunged it right into her heart. She looked at him with a mixture of shock and surprise before her features started to crumble. For a moment he just stood there and stared at her withered body trying to realize that he had actually killed her. But as soon as he spotted Bonnie still lying on the ground he braced himself and hurried over to her unconscious form. He cautiously brushed her dark hair out of her face and ran his hand gently over her forehead.

"Come on Bonnie, wake up. Everything is fine."

But the witch remained unresponsive.

"Bonnie please, don't do this to me." he urged desperately.

Without further thinking he bit into his wrist and held the bleeding wound against Bonnie's lips.

"Please, you have to drink." he whispered.

But Bonnie made no attempt at all and contrary to her head injury his bite wound immediately healed. He could hear her steady heartbeat but it sounded faint.

"Hang on, I'll get you out of here." Damon hushed.

He carefully picked her up and carried her upstairs. Without being seen he made it out of the front door and found himself in the middle of a deep forest. It was dark outside but being a vampire his senses were sharpened and his eyes only needed a couple of seconds to adjust. He looked up into the sky and the stars told him which direction he had to take. Due to Bonnie's head injury he didn't dare to use his vampire speed not wanting to cause any further damage. Time and again he glanced at the witch in his arms and hoped she would just open her eyes and give him her beautiful smile. But her eyes remained closed. He tried to ignore the delicious smell of her blood but he couldn't help himself remembering the sweet taste of it. It had been awhile since he had fed and the smell of Bonnie's blood in his nose let his hunger rise. However it wasn't a problem for him to keep his blood thirst under control, it was just painful. He had just decided to quicken his pace and shifted Bonnie's body in his arms when he could sense another vampire. Two other vampires. He cursed inwardly and considered to run off, but he didn't want to hurt Bonnie. The vampires headed straight toward him and Bonnie and suddenly Damon could also track down a heartbeat. He assumed that those vampires had simply brought their victim into the woods to feed so that he decided to pretend that Bonnie was his midnight snack and kept walking. But when the vampires leaped into view he stopped an looked surprised into three familiar faces. Stefan, Anna and Alaric were standing right in front of him apparently out on search and rescue. They looked equally astonished but also relieved.

"Damon, are you okay? What happened to Bonnie?" Stefan asked and reached out for Bonnie.

"Don't touch her." Damon hissed at his younger brother and held the witch protectively against his chest.

Stefan stepped back and raised his hands in defense.

"It's okay Damon, we're here to help." he said and kept calm.

"What's wrong with him?" Anna asked.

"I guess he's just confused, he went through a lot." Stefan assumed.

"Was it Katherine?" he asked approaching his brother again.

Damon nodded. "I need to bring Bonnie to the hospital."

"My car is not far from here." Alaric said.

Damon hesitated shortly but eventually followed the teacher.

"Damon, what happened to Katherine? Is she still out there?" Stefan asked.

"I killed her." Damon answered monotonously.

Knowing that he wouldn't tell anything else at the moment they didn't press him with further questions and walked in silence. When they reached Alaric's car Damon put Bonnie carefully in the backseat and climbed in next to her. As the space in the car was limited Anna decided to run home while Stefan wanted to stay with his brother and Bonnie. During the car ride to the hospital Damon constantly whispered soothing words to Bonnie who was still lying motionless in his arms. When they finally arrived the hospital Stefan and Damon quickly entered the emergency ward. They were immediately surrounded by doctors and nurses and Damon was forced to let go of Bonnie and put her on a gurney. Stefan had to hold him back when the doctors wheeled the gurney down the corridor and out of his view.

"They are going to help her." Stefan reassured his brother.

Damon sighed and sat down on to one of the plastic chairs in the waiting area. After Alaric had parked his car he also entered the hospital with his cellphone in his hand.

"Anna has already arrived home and informed Elena. She's on the way." he told them and went to find a vending machine to get some coffee.

Stefan nodded and glanced at Damon. The look on Damon's face could only be described as a mixture of desperation and worry. Altogether he looked terrible. He was pale, he had dried blood on his neck and his torn shirt and he was clearly exhausted. But Stefan knew that it would be useless to try to sent him home. Ever since they had become vampires, he had never seen him in such a state. And he could sense that Bonnie had become more than just a friend to Damon. After a short moment of hesitation he took a seat next to Damon and laid a hand on his forearm in order to comfort him. He was completely baffled when he saw a tear rolling down Damon's cheek. Damon quickly wiped it off and stood up trying to hide his tears. He would never allow himself to cry especially not in front of someone else. His father had always equated crying with being weak and he had made it clearly that his oldest son wasn't supposed to show any kind of weakness. But right now he was so full of sorrow that he simply couldn't stop the tears from falling. He tried to escape from Stefan's glances by walking away but was stopped when Stefan grabbed his arm.

"Bonnie is going to be fine." he said softly.

"What if she isn't?" Damon asked quietly and finally faced his brother.

Instead of answering Stefan pulled him into a brotherly hug to comfort him. At first it was a bit awkward for both of them since they hadn't embraced each other for nearly 150 years. Damon was tense but eventually relaxed in his brother's arms and hugged him back.

"This is all my fault. I didn't protect her." Damon whispered.

"I'm pretty sure that Bonnie would object and so do I. I don't what happened during the last hours but I do know how strong Katherine was. And the fact that you killed her is proof enough that you protected Bonnie properly."

When he eventually let go of Damon the tears that he had cried were still visible. Damon felt slightly ashamed and once again wanted to turn away.

"It's okay, Damon." Stefan reassured him and patted his shoulder.

"Thank you."


	9. Chapter 9

Author's notes: It's almost done! Thank you for all those encouraging reviews (ShaWill85 and Darkness is mystery - you really made my day with your latest comments :-))

* * *

When Elena arrived the hospital she found Stefan, Damon and Alaric in the waiting area by the main entrance.

"How is Bonnie, do you know anything?" she asked approaching the three men.

"No, the doctor hasn't returned yet." Alaric answered.

"What happened? Anna couldn't tell me anything except that Katherine is dead. Is it true?" Elena inquired.

Stefan nodded and glanced at his brother who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Damon, are you okay? What happened?" Elena addressed the older vampire and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Damon sighed and finally told them about the events of the past hours and how Bonnie and him had managed to kill Katherine and to escape. Everybody could see that he was blaming himself for Bonnie's current condition and Alaric silently wondered about the strong bond that the vampire and the witch had formed since the incident at the founder's day celebration.

When a nurse came by Damon immediately jumped up and peppered her with questions about Bonnie, but she couldn't answer them as she wasn't in charge of the emergency ward.

"You look like you could need some medical attention as well."she said motioning at Damon's torn shirt and the dried blood.

She was in her late 50's and was clearly guided by her motherly instincts when she looked worried at the vampire and patted his forearm.

"And you are so pale." she also noticed.

"I'm fine." Damon replied and turned away.

The nurse looked unconvinced but eventually left.

Finally a doctor walked down the corridor and headed toward them.

He introduced himself as Dr. Matthews and glanced pensively at the group in front of him. "I'm afraid I can't provide you any kind information about Ms Bennett's condition since none of you is related to her. And we couldn't get a hold of her father yet. Also is visiting time over, but I will make an exception to this rule for one of you as she asked for Damon Salvatore."

"She's awake?" Damon's face immediately lit up.

"So I take it that you are Mr Salvatore." the doctor said laughing.

While the others stayed in the waiting area Damon followed Dr. Matthews to Bonnie's room.

"Five minutes." the doctor told him and opened the door.

He was utterly relieved when he saw his little witch smiling at him.

"Hey." he said and took her small hand into his. "How do you feel?"

"Tired. I have a slight concussion and a small wound at the back of my head, but nothing serious. They are going to release me tomorrow."

Damon nodded and gave her hand a slight squeeze.

"What happened with Katherine? How did you get us out? And what about you, are you okay?" Bonnie asked him.

He told her what had happened after Katherine had smashed her against the wall and the whole time he didn't let go of her hand.

"So it's finally over." Bonnie stated when Damon had finished.

Damon slowly leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Bonnie, I was serious when I said that I love you." Damon told her.

"So was I." the witch admitted.

Again he leaned forward but this time his lips captured hers. Savoring the taste of her kiss and the feeling of her soft lips against his he closed his eyes. Bonnie run her hands through his hair and ended up caressing the nape of his neck. Damon couldn't remember the last time he had felt equally pleased and wished this moment would never end. Usually kissing a girl would lead straight to a one-night stand, but with Bonnie it was completely different. Right now he was already satisfied with holding her close to him and feeling her steady heartbeat.

"I could compel the doctors and nurses to let me stay here with you." he suggested when they eventually broke the kiss.

"No, you should really go home. You need to rest and you need to feed." Bonnie objected.

"We are in a hospital, here is enough food for me."

"Damon, I would love to have you here with me for the rest of the night, but you would be much more comfortable in your own bed at home. And you also need to shower and to get changed."

"How am I supposed to be comfortable when you are not with me?" Damon asked and sighed dramatically.

Bonnie smiled and he gave her a chaste good night kiss and left the room to let her sleep.

Meanwhile in the waiting area Alaric eventually said out loud what he was thinking for quite some time now. "What is actually going on between Bonnie and Damon?"

"I'm not sure, but all of a sudden they seem to be really close." Stefan replied.

"Aren't you afraid that Bonnie's going to get hurt?" the teacher asked.

Elena objected. "Damon has changed and he really cares about Bonnie. Did you notice his smile when he realized that Bonnie is awake. And usually Damon doesn't smile, he only smirks."

Stefan agreed with his girlfriend remembering how his brother had just recently cried in his arms.

When Damon eventually returned to the waiting area Elena headed toward him.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

"She has a slight concussion and she is really tired but other than that she's fine. Tomorrow she will be released." Damon explained.

"Thank God!" Alaric stated relieved.

"Okay, let's go home. There's no need to stay here any longer." Stefan suggested.

The group separated in the parking lot as Alaric went to his car to drive home and Elena offered to take Stefan and Damon home.

"You could stay at the boarding house, too." Stefan said and kissed her.

"I should really go home. Jenna is waiting for me and I still have to come up with a story how Bonnie fell down the stairs." Elena replied.

During the car ride Stefan turned around to check on Damon who was sitting behind Elena and found him fast asleep. He didn't even wake up when they arrived the boarding house and Elena and Stefan got out of the car.

"A couple of days ago I would have just left him here in the car." Stefan told Elena while he opened the car door to wake his older brother.

He nudged him softly and called his name. Damon stirred slightly but his eyes remained closed.

"Damon, come on. I'm ready to pull you out of the car and drag you along the driveway."

Damon groaned and looked tiredly at Stefan.

"Leave me alone, I'm tired. It isn't as uncomfortable as it might look, believe me, I have slept in cars before." Damon mumbled and turned away.

"You won't be that tired any more as soon as you have fed. Now get your lazy ass out of the car."

"Lazy? You mean sexy." Damon muttered but climbed out of the car.

Elena laughed while Stefan was rolling his eyes.

"I have no idea what Bonnie sees in him." Stefan joked.

Damon glared at him but his eyes sparkled with the slightest hint of amusement. Stefan pulled his girlfriend into a tight embrace and kissed her. Their lovely good-bye took some time and caused Damon to take to his heels. Once in the house he prepared himself a glass of blood that he emptied in an instant. He had already finished a second one when Stefan entered the kitchen and looked at him.

"What?" Damon asked confused.

"Do you love her?" Stefan asked bluntly.

"What if I do?"

"Bonnie is a nice girl, I would be happy for you."

"What, no lecture about how to treat her right? No enormous amount of warnings of better not hurting her and screwing up?" Damon asked surprised.

"I can see the way you look at her. You would never hurt her." Stefan explained.

"Since when do we have conversations like this?" Damon wondered.

"We're still brothers, aren't we? It's not that unusual for brothers to talk about something like that."

"I guess at some point during the last 150 years I forgot how it is to have a brother and to behave like one." Damon admitted.

"Lucky us, that we have still enough time for a new start." Stefan said smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's notes: I think I might get a whiplash from shaking my head in disbelief about all those great reviews and adds ;-) Thank you so much!

Anyway this is actually the final chapter and I hope you enjoyed to read this story as much as I enjoyed to write it!

* * *

Damon was woken by the annoying sound of his ringing cell phone. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. A glance at his watch on the nightstand told him that it was almost 9 am. He reached out for his phone and smiled when he recognized Bonnie's number on the display.

"How are you, do you feel better?" he greeted her.

"I'm fine, but I miss you." Bonnie admitted.

"I miss you, too. When are you allowed to leave? I could pick you up."

"I would love to be picked up by you, but my Dad is going to be here in about an hour." she explained.

"Oh, okay." Damon replied and sounded clearly disappointed.

"But you could come over when I'm home. I mean officially and actually using the front door." Bonnie suggested.

"Is your Dad going to be there?"

"Yes, he is. And since I'm planning to spend a lot of time with you in the future I would like to introduce you to him, so we don't have to hide."

Damon eventually agreed and promised to come over around noon. He still couldn't believe that he was heading toward a serious relationship with a beautiful girl that included dealing with her Dad.

"I could still compel him in case he doesn't approve." the vampire mumbled, though he was pretty sure that Bonnie would object.

* * *

When the school bell signalized the end of the history lesson Alaric Saltzman asked Stefan and Elena to stay.

"Have you heard anything from Bonnie." he inquired.

"She texted me this morning. She's fine and her Dad will take her home today." Elena answered.

"And I guess Damon will also make sure that she's going to get enough rest. Considering how worried he was earlier, he's probably going to fuss over her." Stefan laughed.

"I have to admit I'm still a bit worried about this relationship between Bonnie and Damon. He might have changed but is it really possible to develop a whole new personality within a couple of days?" Alaric asked.

"I wouldn't say that it's a completely new personality, he is just back at being human again. He used to shut down emotionally and Bonnie somehow managed to stop him from doing that. His friendship with Elena had already changed him, but thanks to Bonnie the good that was still in him has finally taken over. There's no need to worry." Stefan said convinced.

Alaric nodded approvingly and decided to give Damon a chance but nevertheless to keep an eye on him.

* * *

Damon was glad that it was Bonnie who opened the door, but when he stepped forward intending to pull her into a hug her father appeared right behind her.

"I take it that you are Damon Salvatore." Mr Bennett addressed him.

"Yes Sir, nice to meet you." Damon replied politely and held out his hand.

Mr Bennett accepted the handshake but eyed the young man that his daughter obviously liked suspiciously. Although he would never admit it, Damon felt himself getting slightly nervous and wondered how this could actually happen. Granted, Bonnie's father was taller and broader than him, but he was a vampire for God's sake.

"Okay, let's just skip the whole 'if you break my daughter's heart I'll break your bones' stuff and come in." her father suddenly said and laughed.

Damon was surprised but entered the house. Bonnie smiled and grabbed his hand.

"She told me that it was you, who brought her to the hospital. So thank you for looking after her. You're lucky that I've already went through the phase where I wouldn't accept any guy as a suitable boyfriend for my daughter. Nowadays I'm happy as long as she is." Mr Bennett explained.

"But don't even think about closing the door." he added sternly but smiled when Bonnie and Damon went upstairs to her room.

Once they had stepped into Bonnie's bedroom Damon kissed her lightly on the lips and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"So that's what I am now. Your boyfriend?"

"Are you okay with being my boyfriend?"

"I love being your boyfriend."

Bonnie smiled and rested her head against his chest inhaling his scent.

* * *

The rest of the week passed slowly. Damon visited Bonnie daily and when she was finally allowed to leave the house at the weekend he actually asked her out on a date. Bonnie was thrilled about the imagination of having dinner with Damon at the nice Italian restaurant that he had suggested.

Of course Damon insisted on picking her up and opening every door for her.

When they arrived in town and Bonnie climbed out of the car she noticed the skeptical stares of some of her classmates that were standing in front of the movie theater.

"I guess you better get used to it. You're probably going to have a hard time explaining yourself about our relationship." Damon muttered as they walked down the street holding hands.

"I don't care and I don't mind." Bonnie assured him.

"They are probably just envying you for your new hot boyfriend anyway." Damon smirked.

His smirk that she had hated once was now one of the many little things that she adored. But it was nothing compared to his smile. When he smiled his eyes sparkled and seemed to emanate pure happiness.

The dinner was simply perfect. They got a nice table in the back of the restaurant with a beautiful place setting and decoration. Bonnie glanced at the candle in the middle of the table and suddenly a flame appeared.

"A short reminder that you're able to set me on fire?" Damon grinned.

"Now that you mention it." Bonnie replied also grinning.

The evening was spent with enjoying the delicious food a lot of bantering and exchanging loving glances.

After dinner they drove to the boarding house. Since Elena and Stefan were also out they had the entire house for themselves. They went up to Damon's room where they immediately started to kiss each other. Bonnie laid one of her hands on the back of his head to pull him even closer and deepen their kiss.

"God Bonnie, if we keep that up, I don't think I will be able to stop." Damon mumbled against her lips.

"I don't want you to stop." Bonnie replied.

However her reply caused him to stop.

"Are you sure?"

Bonnie nodded, took him by his hand and lead him over to his bed. For a moment they just looked at each other and Damon was once again mesmerized by her beauty. He leaned down for another kiss which become more and more passionate. When they sunk down on his bed they tentatively started to touch and caress each other. Damon wasn't Bonnie's first boyfriend but she had never been this attracted to anyone before. Also for Damon it was a whole new experience. He had slept with many women but never with a woman that he really loved from deep down inside. Usually his own pleasure ranked first but with Bonnie it was different, and for the first time he really understood the meaning of making love to someone. Knowing how sensitive Bonnie was he treated her as gentle as possible and was surprised that even he relished the tenderness. Slowly but surely the pile of clothes next to the bed increased just as the passion. Everything felt so right and eventually they surrendered to their desire.

When Bonnie woke up she felt Damon's arm wrapped around her waist and carefully turned around. He was still fast asleep but slightly tightened his hold onto her body as soon as she moved. Bonnie slowly lifted her hand and gently caressed his cheek. While she was smoothing his dark disheveled hair he opened his eyes and Bonnie found herself getting lost into his bright blue eyes that looked lovingly at her. The mere imagination of waking up every day in this way made her smile.


End file.
